Star Clash

Chapter Four

(Mars, Sol System)

Steven Coleman stared at his supervisor in dismay, his brown eyes blinking behind the wire rimmed glasses he insisted on wearing. He hated space flight, even the short trip from Earth to Mars had him throwing up or, even worse, feeling as if he was going to, for the entire journey.

"Sorry, you want me to go where, sir?"

"Harmony. Near Sirius, I'm sure you have heard of it, Steven."

"Yes, sir. But isn't that where people go to-"

"Yes, it's the one called the 'pleasure planet'," Leon Gonzales interrupted, his voice testy. "But that's only part of it, admittedly the most famous part, but scarcely the most important. It's also the home of the Ancians, the race everyone seems to think is the oldest in the galaxy. That's whom you will be visiting, not the pleasure houses."

"Yes, sir." For the first time he felt a flash of interest battle with the dread he felt at the idea of travelling through space. "But what-"

"If you'll stop interrupting for a minute, I'll tell you!" Gonzales glared. "We've heard that the Gliesers, sorry, the Vishnans I should say," he corrected himself with a sneer, "are going to appeal to the Ancians for help. I really don't know what they hope to achieve but they are sending a diplomatic envoy to present their case and we are going to do the same."

"But why me, sir? What can I do?"

It was a good question, Gonzales thought to himself, looking at the slender scholar, who had been declared medically unsuitable to fight during the last conscription roundup.

"We need an expert," he answered bracingly, "An expert in Earth history and you're it. You'll be assisting Commander Harry Parker in an advisory role. He will be the one doing the negotiating. You will simply be there to help him, to answer any questions the Ancians might have about our culture, our history. Now if that's all, Ensign Browning will escort you to your quarters and help you pack. He knows what is suitable to take on the ship and what isn't. Oh, before I forget, your ship, the Voyager 21, leaves tomorrow morning at 10:00. Be on it."

Coleman followed the Ensign in a bewildered daze. One minute he had been sitting happily in the library, poring over an ancient text, the next he was about to be flung across the galaxy to Sirius.

He cast his mind back, recalling what he knew about Earth's relationship with Gliese 667, or Vishna, as its inhabitants called it. He supposed it had all started centuries ago, when the primitive astronomer, Gliese, had discovered and labelled the tertiary star system. Mildly interesting from a scientific point of view. But what had really caught the public's imagination then, and subsequently, was the fact that it was the nearest system to Sol with habitable planets.

It was almost inevitable, that when Earth eventually achieved space flight several centuries later, Gliese 667 would be their first destination.

The initial journey to the star system had taken years, twenty years, if he recalled correctly. He had read about the first meeting, the excitement of the early voyagers when they realised they had found the first other intelligent race. The thrill, when they discovered the aliens were an advanced society, that they had a Faster Than Light drive, far superior to that used by Earth for travelling between the stars.

When had it all gone wrong, he wondered?

When the aliens refused to trade with humans, refused to sell or trade them the FTL drive? Or when an enterprising bunch of traders had stolen a ship and appropriated the drive for themselves? Who had fired the first shot in anger? More dispassionate than most of his species, accustomed to wading through the victors' reports of history with a critical eye, it hadn't taken him long to realise that it all depended on whom you talked to.

As for the Ancians, now there was a race he was eager to meet. He had never encountered one in the flesh, so to speak, but from what he had read, they were a race more in tune with his own ideals of study and scholarship. Slow of movement and speech, he had heard space men joking that most of the time it was hard to tell an Ancian from a statue.

The Ancians lived on Harmony, but appeared content to let other races run the part of the planet devoted to pleasures and recreation of all descriptions. Harmony had everything from theatres to bars and drug dens; from peaceful retreats to extreme sports for the athletically inclined. In addition, or perhaps as a result, Harmony was accepted by all races as being neutral, a place where differences were put aside, at least for a few hours. Anyone tempted into forgetting that, found themselves returned to their ship unconscious, and their permit to disembark revoked.

Steven soon packed his bag under the close supervision of Ensign Browning. It didn't take long as he could only take three kilos with him, and after Browning had left, he decided to spend his remaining time researching the Ancians.

There were numerous texts on the subject, many dating from the early years of first contact. Images showed creatures bearing a passing resemblance to an old Earth animal called a walrus, but with six fingers on each appendage and without the long tusks. Accounts described them as passive, spending much of their time observing other races and preserving historical and cultural records, rather like curators in a museum.

As far as Steven could ascertain, only one person had actually been to their city in the far North. She described long, curved white buildings, filled with artifacts and hologram displays, confirming the description of them as curators. They appeared to live a relatively simple life, with nothing remarkable in the way of technology, other perhaps than the sheer lack of it, for such an old race.

There was a short article from a Commander Liu Zhang, concluding that the Ancians appeared to be no threat to Sol and its aspirations. As far as anyone knew, the Ancians never interfered with either the pleasure cities or the other races who visited them. Seemingly, they were content merely to monitor and observe.

It was evident to Steven that the government had been taken by surprise, when they learned that the Vishnans were appealing to the Ancians for help. Was it possible the ancient race wielded more power than previously assumed? Was their authority real rather than symbolic? Or was this simply a Vishnan diversion?